American prisons are going private

Most Americans are unaware that private prisons in the country are on the rise. Is there a reason behind this trend that isn't going reported though?

Ana Kasparian of The Young Turks says that private prisons are thriving in America right now because of the profits they are generating, which most people are unaware of. Millions of dollars are going into lobbying for the institutions, and as more and more states relinquish their duties of running prisons, the private sector is reaping the benefits and pumping the profits back to the corporate entities that are backing them.

“Whenever a prison system is privatized,” says Kasparian, “the number one thing they’ll want to do is profit.” She recalls a case of a Pennsylvania judge who replaced all county detention centers for juveniles with privatized ones, who thus paid off the judge under the table. While that was only one case that leaked to the media, this is happening elsewhere across America.

Kasparian notes that, though many lawmakers are becoming more and more opposed to the decades-long “War on Drugs,” legislation is only becoming more stricter, so that prisons will soon be brimming with remote offenders. “The War on Drugs is an absolute failure (but) why are p[politicians ignoring that?” she asks. “Because they know that private prisons are fattening up their pockets…and making huge profits.”

“Pretty soon,” she says, “we are going to spend time in prison because of minor offenses.”

“There needs to be limits,” says Kasparian. “When it comes to corporations, it is never-ending. They get what they want because they have the money.”

As lobbyists continue to push for a transition to privatization, Kasparian says a political revolution needs to happen before everyone is behind bars for ridiculous laws. Corporations are the root of every single problem in the US, she says, and as corporations begin to take foot of the prison system, the problem is only worsening.